shifted
by Life That Is Not Yet Full
Summary: Attending the Bao Mi Academy is everything Po has wished for. He's friends with the most popular group of Shifters around: the Furious Five, he has his two dads, and everything is perfect. Until the school is threatened and his friends turn out to be more than they seem... Shapeshifter and Modern AU. Rated T for future chapters.
1. Chapter 1: First Day, First Troubles

_Dear Diary,_

 _Today is my first day attending Bao Mi Academy. I'm a bit nervous and excited but come on! It's Bao Mi Academy! The best Shifter Academy in all of China!_

 _I was a bit surprised that I Shifted to a panda on my twelfth birthday. I thought I was going to be a goose, like my dad, but at least I was like Dad: big belly, furry, and proud of it! We all have a specific animal to Shift to, which is basically shapeshifting but without any consequences. Most of the villagers here are goats and sheep and stuff, so I was more than surprised that I was a panda. Isn't that great?_

 _But anyway, I'm super excited. I heard that the Furious Five attended Bao Mi. Who are the Furious Five, you ask? Well, Diary, only the most amazing Shifters ever! And the most popular. Each are identified by certain articles of clothing or whatever. They only go by the animals they Shift to. No one knows their true names; isn't that mysteriously awesome?_

 _I'm hyped. Can't you tell? Super hyped. Well! I gotta go now! Dad's calling._

 _Po_

"Po!" Mr. Ping banged on his son's door in exasperation. "I better see you outside and in the car in three minutes!"

"Coming, Dad!" Po shoved his diary into his suitcase and quickly dragged it outside to where Li Shan was waiting.

"You ready to go, son?" he asked, grinning as he shoved the suitcase into the trunk of the car and slammed the door shut.

"Uh huh, yeah, I'm so pumped for this!" Po hopped into the car, as Li Shan pressed the gas pedal and they sped away.

Bao Mi was just as awesome as Po had expected. The academy was full of students - some in their Shifted form, and the rest in their human form. Po struggled to catch a glimpse of their faces to try to find the Five as Li Shan unloaded his baggage.

"You're supposed to go check in with Headmaster Shifu," Li Shan told his son as he handed him the handle of his suitcase. "Have fun!"

"Call us often, son!" Mr. Ping added, poking his head out of the passenger side.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, Dad," Po whispered, glancing furtively over his shoulder to make sure no one was watching. "Thanks for taking me. I'm gonna go now."

"You forgot these," Mr. Ping continued, taking no notice of Po's embarrassment. He handed his son five figurines, each shaped like a member of the Furious Five.

"Dad!" Po muttered, trying to push them back into the car before anyone noticed. "I don't need these here!"

"Oh alright," Mr. Ping sighed. "I don't know what happened. You used to love playing with your action figures."

"Dad, I can't bring them to the Academy!" Po protested, already backing away from the car, intent on ending the conversation as soon as he could. "Just-just keep them safe for me, okay?"

Mr. Ping just laughed. "Of course, son. Have a good time!"

"Don't starve!" Li Shan added, laughing as Mr. Ping shot a glare in his direction.

"Bye!" Po waved to both of his dads before hurrying towards the school. He nearly bumped into someone in his haste and was sent flying. He quickly got to his feet, face burning. It was only his first day and he already made a fool out of himself. "Sorry, sorry, are you okay?"

The 'someone' he had bumped just smiled sweetly. She was in her Shifted form: a panda. As Po examined her closely (obviously not because she was attractive) he noticed bright pink ribbons sticking out of her schoolbag. _She's a ribbon dancer? Ohhhh man, I'm in trouble, right?_ "Oh no, that's totally fine! You new here? What's your name? Mine's Mei Mei."

"Oh, uh, right." Po tended to lose his ability to speak around girls so he just blurted, "It's Po. I was wondering if you could tell me where Headmaster Shifu's office is?"

"It's down the hall and to the left," Mei Mei answered, still smiling. Po had to remind himself to look casual. "He's probably not busy now, so you can just knock on the door."

"Okay, thanks," Po rushed away. _Reeeally need to work on talking to pretty girls._

"Bye!" she called as he was swallowed up by a wave of students. Everyone in his way quickly parted for him, giving him rather weird looks; he was the only one not in the school uniform and it made him stand out, especially with his shabby clothing and overlarge suitcase.

Po somehow managed to fumble his way to a large set of green and golden doors, marked Headmaster. Remembering Mei Mei's advice, he knocked.

There was a moment's pause before the doors opened and an old red panda -Po assumed he was Shifu, or at least the Shifted form of him - stood in the doorway. "Are you Po Ping?" he asked, scrutinizing the young man in front of him.

"I, uh, yeah. I am." Po stuttered, trying to remember his manners. Was he supposed to bow or something? What did people do when they meet highly distinguished headmasters from top schools?

"Excellent." Shifu pulled a scroll out of nowhere and studied it a moment before snapping it shut. "You have been homeschooled for the first part of your education, yes? So we can just put you into rotation without any problems?"

"Yeah."

"Good." There was another pause before Shifu added, "Because you enrolled late, I'll just have your to-be-roommate also show you around campus. Crane? Would you mind?"

 _Crane?_ There was only one 'Crane' Po had ever heard of, and if he was correct...

The young man that came out of Shifu's office was wearing a Asian farmer's hat. _Okay, calm down Po, it could just be someone who looks like someone else._ He held himself upright like he was afraid of bumping into everyone, like social contact could kill him, especially from a roommate he probably would be forced to talk to. _He's got the social awkwardness down cold. Could it be?_ Po, being the expert scrutinizer (as he liked to call himself since his dad taught him to study people like he studied fruit for bruises) noticed the newcomer's hazel eyes, which, added up to the hat and the posture, were a dead giveaway. _No way..._

"This is Crane, from the Furious Five," Shifu said. "He'll be your roommate and tour guide this year."

It was all Po could do to hold in an excited squeal. _Of all the students in Bao Mi Academy, his roommate was one of the Five! How lucky was that?_

"Hey. I'm Po Ping," Po managed to say, holding out his hand. Crane shook it, looking slightly awkward at the whole interaction.

Crane bowed his head slightly as he retracted his hand rather quickly. "Crane."

Po nodded eagerly, eyes wide with excitement, but Crane barely looked at him and instead turned to face down the hallway. "Our room is this way."

Po didn't notice Shifu retreating into his office, a knowing smile gracing his lips.

"I just wanna say," Po said, the words spilling out of his mouth in large clumps, "I'm a big fan of you guys. I'm really happy that-"

Crane just seemed to tune him out while he still managed to nod along politely.

"-and I don't think that-oh gods, is that our room?"

They had arrived at the dorms; they weren't fancy or anything, but it was better than Po had hoped. He honestly didn't even know what he was expecting. Maybe this whole Wow I'm at the Bao Mi Academy what do I do situation was going to his head.

Or maybe not, because he still couldn't get over the fact he was standing in the halls of the Bao Mi Academy, whose difficult tests and strict criteria made even the best students steer away from it on their career paths. Po, whose marks were just average by his dad's standards and over-average by his other dad's standards, felt that maybe there was a mistake in the letter process and they mixed him up for someone else.

Crane gave him a confused look. "Yeah. Have you ever had a room before?" he asked drily.

"Yeah, but it's so much cooler at the Academy!" Po exclaimed rushing inside and dumping his suitcase onto the empty bed. He took a glance at Crane's side of the room. The walls were covered in calligraphy, black ink swirling across the pages plastered to the wall, reading bao mi, secrets. Po didn't get a chance to look at the rest because his suitcase fell on his foot.

"Ow!" While the cry didn't cause any concern from the avian Shifter standing in the doorway, it did cause for attention.

"Careful with that," Crane said. "There are rooms under us too."

"Yeah, sorry." Po hauled the suitcase back onto the bed and opened it. "Do I, uh, unpack now?"

Crane shrugged, eyes flicking down the hall before settling back on the other student. "If you want to, I guess you could."

"Great!" Po pulled his blankets out of the top compartment with a grunt and fanned it out over the mattress, balancing the suitcase on his knee until they were stable. Tossing his pillow to the head of the bed with one hand, he managed to pull out some of his posters. Crane raised an eyebrow, seeing himself and the rest of the Furious Five on one of them. Po noticed his staring and quickly shoved it back into his suitcase. "You, uh, weren't supposed to see that."

"No, it's fine," Crane replied. "It's just a bit unsettling that you have that. On another note, where'd you even get that?"

"I made it," Po said, and even he couldn't ignore the flash of amazement that was shadowed upon the avian Shifter before morphing into neutrality.

"Really? You like us that much?"

Po nodded, face flushing for the second time in twenty minutes. "You guys are basically my idols."

Crane looked uncomfortable at that. "Yeah, um, we are just normal Shifters, you know."

"But you're so cool!"

"And what exactly made us cool?" Crane challenged.

Po opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. It took a few more tries before sighing in defeat. "I don't know. It's just- I always looked up to you guys, but I guess I never thought really why I did."

Crane studied him for a moment before shrugging. "Doesn't really matter I guess. Mantis and Monkey would love to hear you love us that much."

"Really? Am I gonna meet them?" Po threw the rest of the contents of his suitcase onto his bed and shoved the empty bag to the foot of the bed. "And Viper and Tigress?"

"Eventually," Crane sighed, "they're going to wonder about the new roommate I have so yes," he gave Po a hesitant smile. "you will."

"Wow, I can't wait!" Po grinned. "It'll be even better than seeing this bedroom!"

Crane just chuckled, giving Po's heart a little jump in excitement because while Crane was known for being a bit sarcastic at times, he had never heard him laugh in person. "If you're going to be impressed by a bedroom, then wait until you see the rest of the campus."

Po stared. "There's more?"

"Of course there is," Crane replied. "You thought the Academy was made of dorms and offices?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"Have you ever been to an academy before?"

"No. I was homeschooled," Po explained. "I'm kinda new to this whole 'campus' thing."

"Hm." Crane's eyes narrowed slightly. "Well, to give you the gist of it, since we live here, we also need places to go to eat and stuff. Things we normally would have to leave to find is all here. Basically, it's a small neighborhood. I don't really know how else to put it."

"Cool!" Po cast a look around the room he and Crane shared. _Still not going to get over the fact that I'm sharing a room with Crane, one of the Five!_

"Ready to go?"

"Wait, what, now?" Po whipped his head back to look at the other student in shock.

Crane gave a half-grin, already Shifting into his animal: a crane. "Would you rather we wait?"

"No? Isn't that a given?" Po asked, Shifting as well.

"Fair enough," Crane responded, eyes glinting slightly. "Let's go."


	2. Chapter 2: The Rest of the Five

_Dear Diary,_

 _I managed to write this before leaving with Crane, and yeah, I know, I probably should've waited til after but still!_

 _So apparently, Crane is nearly the same as all social media says he is except he's cooler with me than I expected. I don't fit in with other people for some reason, and I guess it has something to do with my excess fat and the fact I Shift into a panda, which isn't as common. Crane's pretty much the only one who treated me like someone worth talking to. Except for Mei Mei of course. Not gonna get over her anytime soon..._

 _Anyway, the day is actually going pretty well compared to my first day at elementary school, which was so bad that Dad decided to homeschool me instead. Having a member of the Furious Five is a good bonus (in case I haven't said that enough, because c'mon! I'm never gonna get over that)._

 _Po_

Po had to run to keep up with Crane, who either seemed intent on losing him, or he just didn't know that as a panda, Po wasn't really the fastest at running.

And Po was starting to regret Shifting into his animal form.

Crane finally looked back and slowed down enough for Po to keep a steady pace beside him. "Your Shifted form is a panda?" he asked.

"Yeah." Po expected Crane to either laugh or spew some weird knowledge about pandas, because despite Crane's popularity, Po didn't actually know what he was like in reality.

Crane simply nodded. "That's good because we need some more _interesting_ Shifters around here." He paused before quickly adding, "Don't tell anyone I said that."

"So, uh," Po fumbled for words. He still couldn't believe he was talking to _Crane_. "What's it like here? Are the professors strict? Is the food good? Can you cook your own food here? What's the set schedule? Are there curfews?"

Crane seemed taken aback by the amount of questions Po had. "Um, could you slow down a bit?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Po replied sheepishly. "I guess I get too excited sometimes."

"It's fine." Crane landed and gestured to a building a few blocks away. "That over there is the cafeteria," he said. "Of course, if you want to, you could cook your own food. It's actually quite surprising how many people _don't_ know how to cook."

"I can," Po blurted, staring at the double doors in amazement.

Crane looked at him in surprise. "Really? Are you any good at it?" he asked, a hint of sarcasm touching his words.

"Yeah," Po replied, still looking at the cafeteria doors. "My dad is a noodle chef. He taught me how to cook. I picked up a few skills from him as well." He noticed Crane was watching him and finished, "Not to brag or anything."

"That's cool," Crane said hesitantly. He turned away, the subject of cooking apparently forgotten. "That down there is, uh, Tigress."

"Tigress?" Po tore his gaze away from the promising doors of the cafeteria and down to where Crane was looking.

Sure enough, a young woman dressed in the Bao Mi Academy uniform was heading up the road towards them. Her eyes were hued a deep red with red markings striped across her cheeks. She stopped in front of Po, looking him up and down in disdain. "This is the newest student?" she asked Crane, not bothering to introduce herself to Po. Not that he cared anyway because it was Tigress for heaven's sake. Who didn't know her? _She's even colder than she appears to be! Isn't that awesome?_

Crane cleared his throat before answering. "Yeah. This is Po Ping. Po, meet Tigress. But of course, you probably already knew her anyway."

"Yeah!" Po held out his hand for her to shake; Tigress ignored it. "Big fan."

Crane Shifted back to a human and steered Po away. "And that's the signal to leave. You need to see the gym."

 _The gym._ The one place Po actually didn't really like going to. Sure, exercise was important, but he _really_ didn't want to do anything at all to work for it. But the Bao Mi Academy gym was _huge_. It made Po almost want to go in and work out that very instant. _Almost_.

"You know, I'm not really an athletic kind of guy," Po started.

Crane studied him and then the gym and shrugged. "If you're not willing to, that's fine. We've got other stuff here."

"I bet!" Po said excitedly. "This place is amazing! You can almost feel the 'cool' vibes radiating off of it!"

"Uh huh." Crane gave him a disbelieving look. " _'Cool vibes'_."

Po heard the slightly mocking tone in Crane's voice but chose to ignore it in favor of excitement. The novelty of actually being at one of the best Shifter Academies in China hadn't worn off yet and he was willing to make the most of it. _If either of my dads could see me now: actually talking to a member of the Furious Five and getting them to actually make conversation with me._

Which brought up another thought: "Do we get sent home for the holidays and such?" he asked.

Crane seemed a bit more alert at the question - his posture became even stiffer, if possible. "You don't have to leave the Academy," he replied. "Some students stay here for the holidays."

"Oh cool." Po got the sense that Crane had a rather strained relationship with _his_ family so he dropped the subject. "Is there a, uh, library here?"

Crane brightened. "Yeah. There is. This way."

Still in his Shifted form, Po awkwardly lumbered after Crane as the avian Shifter led the way down two streets, over a block, crossing another street before stopping in front of a large building.

" _Woah_."

The library was impressive. It loomed before him, and Po had to crane (no pun intended) his neck to try to see the top. It was built in the traditional style, which indicated that it hadn't been modernized quite like the other buildings on the campus.

When he voiced his observations to Crane, the young man confirmed the panda's thoughts. "The library used to be a scroll room back in the old days. They just put electric wiring and running water through it. They moved all the scrolls to a back room, so you can either study by scroll or by book."

"Uh, which one do you prefer?" Po asked, trying to imagine the possibilities of studying from a scroll. He had never used one; his dads liked books way better."Is the scroll more papery or something?"

Crane shook his head, still staring at the windows of the library. "They're actually thicker but they can get to be kind of a mess if they're long. I would say books are easier but scrolls definitely hold more detailed information because when they are translated over, it doesn't go through directly."

"Wait, the scrolls are all in Chinese?"

"Yes."

"So then, uh, if you for some reason _don't_ know Chinese, then you're screwed?"

"In a nutshell." Crane's eyes widened when the implication set in. "Can you read Chinese?"

"Oh, yeah, of course," Po said quickly. "I was just wondering."

Crane glanced at him but before he could say anything, the door swung open and three figures - two guys and a girl - came out, laughing about some unheard joke. _This has to be a dream. No way could I meet all of the Furious Five in one day. And on the first one too_!

"Oh hey Crane!" one greeted. "This your new roommate?"

Po quickly managed to Shift back to a human as Crane glanced at him. "Yeah."

The one who spoke came closer and Po identified him as Monkey. "He's a lot _bigger_ than I thought."

"Monkey!" the girl chastised, bringing Po's attention on her. _Viper? No. Freaking. Way._

"What?" Monkey turned to Viper, looking confused. "What did I say wrong?"

Viper rolled her eyes. "Never mind." She looked at Po and smiled sweetly. "Hey there! What's your name?"

Crane seemed to remember himself and quickly introduced them to each other. "Guys, this is Po Ping. Po, this is Viper. The guy who first talked to you is Monkey, and that tall guy over there is Mantis."

Po followed Crane's gaze to Mantis. The insect Shifter was actually a lot taller in his human form than Po expected. "You're taller than I expected," Po blurted. _Damnit Po! Embarrass yourself in front of members of the Five a bit more, will you?_

Mantis rolled his eyes. "Why does everyone expect me to be short? I'll have you know that praying mantises are tall by insect standards."

"But not to ours," Monkey told him with a grin, which earned a glare from the taller Shifter.

"Sorry about them," Viper told Po. "They tend to get a bit over-reactive."

"Yeah, I, uh, can tell," Po replied nervously, watching Monkey and Mantis bicker.

"But really," Viper continued, "they're best friends who have soft spots for each other. Isn't that sweet?"

Po nodded a bit uncertainly. Viper seemed nice; way nicer than she treated those haters on Instagram. He didn't know if he should be scared of her or not.

Crane seemed to read his thoughts and muttered in his ear, "Just don't piss her off and you should be good."

"Got it."

Viper now turned to Monkey and Mantis who seemed to have settled on an agreement rather fast but were still eyeing each other. "Are you done acting like children?"

"Technically..." Mantis started to say before Viper rolled her eyes and cut him off.

"Forget I asked."

"Does he know about the, uh, thing?" Mantis asked Crane vaguely.

Crane shook his head, and Po started. "What 'thing'? What's going on?"

"Nothing," All four said at the same time.

"Where's Tigress?" Viper asked instead, looking to Crane for the answer.

"The library. Studying for the exam this month."

"Already?"

While Crane and Viper were talking, Mantis Shifted into his insect form and scurried up Po's leg onto his shoulder. "You ever experience acupuncture before?" he asked.

"Uh, no?" Po twisted his head to try to keep his eye on the mantis moving across his back, but gave up after he climbed onto Po's head. "Why? I know what it is. Do you practice it?"

Mantis nodded. "Yep. I was wondering if you'd let me try some stuff on you."

"Couldn't you, uh, practice on the rest of the Five?" Po asked as careful as he could because _holy shit I've got a Furious Five member crawling over me. Oh wait, that sounds really wrong._

Mantis shrugged. "I could, but it'd be interesting to work on a, what did you say your Shifted form was?"

"I didn't say what animal it is," Po replied, "but it's a panda."

"Yeah, a panda," Mantis continued, as if Po didn't say anything. "I've never really worked on anyone besides the Five, so it's a new experience."

"Do you _know_ how to use acupuncture?" Po asked. He didn't remember seeing this occupation on Mantis' social media. But then again, the insect Shifter didn't really post that much from the occasional random picture of scenery.

Mantis looked offended and hopped off of Po's head with a chirp. "Yes. Why else would I be asking?"

"Uh, I don't know, maybe just as an 'experiment'?" Po asked doubtfully.

Mantis Shifted back to a human and scowled. "You don't have to agree if you don't want to."

"Uh, I mean, yeah, sure, you can!" Po said quickly. No way was he passing up this opportunity.

Monkey just chuckled. "You're just saying that because we're the Five, right?"

Po opened his mouth to answer but a loud gong interrupted him.

Crane was suddenly besides him, already Shifted. "You have your schedule? They sent it to you, right?"

Po nodded and handed it to the avian Shifter. Crane checked it, blinked in surprise, and gestured down the street. "Your class is this way. Cooking, right?"

Po nodded again, his excitement rising.

Crane took to the sky. "Follow me," he called before soaring down the road, Po struggling to keep up.


End file.
